Formative peer assessment in higher healthcare education programmes : a scoping review

• Objectives Formative peer assessment focuses onlearning and development of the student learning process.This implies that students are taking responsibility forassessing the work of their peers by giving and receivingfeedback to each other. The aim was to compile researchabout formative peer assessment presented in higherhealthcare education, focusing on the rationale, theinterventions, the experiences of students and teachersand the outcomes of formative assessment interventions.Design A scoping review.Data sources Searches were conducted until May 2019in PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied HealthLiterature, Education Research Complete and EducationResearch Centre. Grey literature was searched in LibrarySearch, Google Scholar and Science Direct.Eligibility criteria Studies addressing formative peerassessment in higher education, focusing on medicine,nursing, midwifery, dentistry, physical or occupationaltherapy and radiology published in peer-reviewedarticlesor in grey literature.Data extractions and synthesis Out of 1452 studies,37 met the inclusion criteria and were critically appraisedusing relevant Critical Appraisal Skills Programme, JoannaBriggs Institute and Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool tools.The pertinent data were analysed using thematic analysis.Result The critical appraisal resulted in 18 includedstudies with high and moderate quality. The rationale forusing formative peer assessment relates to giving andreceiving constructive feedback as a means to promotelearning. The experience and outcome of formativepeer assessment interventions from the perspectiveof students and teachers are presented within threethemes: (1) organisation and structure of the formativepeer assessment activities, (2) personal attributes andconsequences for oneself and relationships and (3)experience and outcome of feedback and learning.Conclusion Healthcare education must considerpreparing and introducing students to collaborativelearning, and thus develop well-designedlearningactivities aligned with the learning outcomes. Since peercollaboration seems to affect students’ and teachers’experiences of formative peer assessment, empiricalinvestigations exploring collaboration between studentsare of utmost importance.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

formative assessment

peer

higher health care education

Vårdvetenskap

Care science

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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